Akhbar Sham, a Russian-language "news" site affiliated with the Chechen-led group Jaysh al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar (JMA), has recently released a video that details a new assault on the Aleppo Central Prison.

The fighting at Aleppo Central Prison began in 2013, when several opposition groups vowed to liberate the prison--where many jihadists are held as inmates. In early 2014, a popular and influential Chechen commander of his own jamaat (group) in Jabhat al-Nusra, Sayfullah ash-Shishani, was killed assaulting the prison. In May of this year, the Syrian military said that it had broken the siege of the prison, but less than three days later JMA announced that it had "restored the status quo" according to From Chechnya to Syria, a website that tracks Russian speaking fighters in Syria. In doing so, the JMA and Syrian al-Qaeda ally Ahrar ash-Sham launched a new assault on the prison.

Obviously, the JMA (as well as the late Sayfullah ash-Shishani's jamaat) are still fighting at the Aleppo Central Prison. Recently, the JMA merged with three other groups to form Jabhat Ansar ad-Din, as of now it is unclear if other groups in Jabhat Ansar ad-Din are helping in the fight near the prison.

The propaganda video above starts out with a well produced introduction (I do not speak nor do I understand Russian, so I have no clue what was written or spoken throughout the video) and then it dives straight into the fighting. Videos like this, like most other groups', certainly help in recruitment efforts. By limiting this video to Russian, it appears they are trying to attract and/or showcase their fighting to a Russian audience. This would make sense as JMA is a predominately Russian-speaking group.

One should note the kits, discipline and maneuvering of these fighters throughout the video. Their kits seem to be much better than ordinary rebels; their discipline as far as utilizing defilade and small-unit tactics is concerned is also much better than ordinary rebel groups--which is on par considering other videos published by Akhbar Sham. As Bill Roggio once told me, these forces are often used as "shock troops" to utilize in storming operations or heading a battle. One can definitely see why.